Arsonists branded "mindless idiots"

ARSONISTS responsible for a spate of fires have been branded “mindless idiots”.

The fire, the latest of several in Gwersyllt, came on Thursday night, when a stretch of fence and hedge behind Heol Hyfryd was set alight at about 10pm.

A fire crew from Wrexham were called to the scene to deal with the fire.

A North Wales Fire and Rescue Service spokesman confirmed the fire had been started deliberately.

The incident follows several others in Gwersyllt in the past fortnight, including an arson attack on a 40ft tree outside the family home of Helen Jones on Bryn Glas, Gwersyllt.

Sharon Ritchie, who helped organise the clean-up campaign after the fire on Bryn Glas, said: “They just think they’re having a laugh, but we’ll have the last laugh – not them.

“They’re just mindless idiots with nothing better to do than destroy people’s property.”

She added that the clean-up operation at Bryn Glas, which had been helped out by a number of volunteers, was going well.

“We’ve got two of the trees down – we’ve only got the one tree left, but it’s leaning. So we’ll have to get some ratchets on it and secure it before we can take it down.”

Gwersyllt councillor Arfon Jones said the spate of arson attacks was “very concerning”.

Cllr Jones said: “Whoever is responsible needs catching before somebody gets hurt. We need proactive policing and work from the youth service because it’s not adults causing this.

“This is a youth problem – adults don’t go around setting bins on fire and things like that.”

A multi-agency community meeting in response to the arsons has been arranged to take place on Friday.

The meeting is set to begin at 10am at Gwersyllt Resource Centre in Second Avenue.

Last Monday, North Wales’ Arson Reduction Team appealed to Gwersyllt residents to help them stamp out arson.

They had been called to six incidents in four days before the latest fire.

Firefighters were called to deliberate wheelie bin fires on First Avenue and Wheatsheaf Lane in the early hours of August 6.

They were then called to a deliberate fire involving 10 metres of hedge shortly after midnight the following day.

On August 8, they were called to Heol Y Coed to a deliberate fire involving a tree.

And the next day conifer trees and wooden pallets were set alight on Bryn Glas, prompting a community clean-up.

Finally, on August 10, firefighters were called to the same area to tackle a fire involving a fence panel

Launching the appeal, Kevin Jones, arson reduction team manager, said: “This type of antisocial behaviour is completely unacceptable and we’re appealing to members of the community to report these deliberate firestarters.

“Deliberate fires place tremendous pressure on resources, with our crews tied up for a considerable length of time trying to bring them under control which prevents them from attending other life threatening incidents.

“One of the incidents took place during a period of strike action by firefighters across England and Wales – our services are limited during the ongoing periods of strike and the irresponsible actions of deliberate firestarters are putting lives in danger.”

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TWO cars have been torched in Wrexham this weekend.
Both vehicles were destroyed by flames - and both were the result of deliberate ignition.
The first arson attack happened on Heol y Cyngor, in Johnstown, on Friday night.
The fire was started near council-owned garages in the area, causing 100 per cent damage to the car.
The second blaze was started in the Hightown area of Wrexham just after midnight in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Firefighters battled the flames but the vehicle was destroyed.